A beautifully written story, with a poetic note, colorful and rich descriptions, a fascinating magical system & folklore, making it easy to immerse oneself in this well-built world.

It was a surprisingly easy, light, cozy & fast read, even with some heavier themes and plot points included. I also find that the plot was interesting albeit predictable at times, and the cliffhanger makes it hard not to want to read the sequel! (I WILL read the second, I’m very curious about what will happen and to see if I’ll get answers to some questions I still had after finishing this book hehe)

To me, there was even a « healing » aspect in certain characters development, as in the beginning, I felt I saw mostly their flaws and annoying side, but as the story progressed and I got to know them better, I slowly found them more and more interesting and endearing. What felt healing was especially their growth and how/when some of them were able to resolve and overcome past issues, like a puzzle piece that finally found its place.

One aspect I didn’t like is that there was a lot of misunderstandings & miscommunication issues, and I feel it made some interactions & relationships stagnant for too long at some moments. There was also a variation in the pace, which could be slow at times, but fast at others, and although in some parts of the story, it was an interesting characteristic, at others, it felt too rushed or too prolonged. To me, it made some plot points less impactful than they could have been, and I thought the romance parts were gone over too fast, the connections between the couples sometimes left shallower than I would have liked.

As I went in blind, with absolutely zero idea of what the book was about, I ended up really enjoying this read and wanting more!